Stocks still shaken over super typhoon

The market, as pale as it has been for the past sessions this week, remained sluggish and ended with losses on Wednesday.

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“All fingers point to [Typhoon] Yolanda, with the market supposedly continuing to feel the after-effects even as relief operations pick up and efforts shift to rebuilding and rehabilitating the areas left in total ruins,” Jun Calaycay, Accord Capital Equities Corp. analyst, said.

“The death toll has breached the 4,000-mark. Insofar as the market is concerned, the ‘death toll’ rises as the index digs deeper and past important technical support levels,” he added.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell significantly this time by 1.80 percent, or 112.51 points to 6,155.34, while the wider all-shares index plummeted 1.62 percent, or 61.78 points to 3,763.68.

“At the close of Tuesday trades, the PSEi hovered less than a hundred points above the next trough of 6,191.80. It wasted no time going under the line the next day, sending signals to some, granting an increasing number that ‘all bets are now off,’” Calaycay said.

The sub-indices also posted big losses with property registering the largest decline, falling by 2.88 percent, or 72.49 points toward 2,441.22, followed by financials, which went down by 1.94 percent, or 29.71 points to 1,502.28.

Industrial, on the other hand, registered a 1.69-percent drop, or 152.14 points to 8,835.48, while holding firms slid by 1.52 percent, or 86.35 points to 5,591.30. Holding firms also plunged 1.52 percent, or 86.35 points to 5,591.30, while services lost 1.30 percent, or 25.23 points to 1,919.25. Mining and oil, meanwhile, dipped by 0.80 percent, or 97.51 points to 12,101.77.

Total value turnover stood higher at P9.8 billion, while the gap between decliners and gainers further widened, 132 to 34.

On Tuesday, the main index plunged for the second time this week, falling by 1.19 percent, or 75.40 points to 6,267.85. The wider all-shares barometer fell by 1.02 percent, or 39.40 points to 3,825.46.